Modest Needs for Hard Times

There’s hard times out there. Here’s a charity with a simple and direct mission:

Founded in 2002, Modest Needs is an award-winning public charity with a simple but critical mission: we work to stop the cycle of poverty BEFORE it starts for the low-income workers whom conventional philanthropy has forgotten.

We do this by empowering compassionate members of the general public to safely and securely help hard-working, low-income households to afford the kinds of short-term emergency expenses that we’ve all encountered before: the unexpected car repair, the unanticipated visit to the doctor, or the unusually large heating bill, for example.

Since 2002, by working together in this very ‘modest’ way, Modest Needs’ donors have stopped 10,281 low-income individuals and families from entering the vicious cycle of poverty and a lifetime of dependence on the public welfare system for their survival.

And, through our unique Non-Profit Grant program, we simultaneously empower our donors to invest directly in small non-profit organizations struggling to serve their communities, but whose needs are generally too small to be considered a funding priority by larger, more conventional grant-makers.

100% of every contribution goes directly to low-income individuals and families who’ve requested assistance. The average grant to recipients is $380.